River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-01-06

@AAANA 80 4 AUAtAAN wi Nlf&E-AuAAE very
useful. y said She, Il begged him to
remain
(which l was the more ready to do"
I said /, ..as there seem strong hopes that
I Miss Fortescue will very soon be able to
Y resume her musical studies"
! At this the Basilisk again smiled
slightly.
You acted rightly" said Mr.. Beau
fOy, more and more assimilating his
I voice and manner to the sOmbre POM
\ pousness of the room. You were
+ quite right. and your views on the sub
/ ject were most creditable to YOU. But
4 circumstances are now changed, and.
as Miss Fortescue has left Us. l must
beg youto cOnsideryOurself ut liberty to
seek another engagement.
Miss Forte~cue has left you?' l
enguirei. bewiIdered.
Miss Fortescuc set of this afternoon
for Pyrmont, where. trust, she will be
completely restored 10 health
This blow completely staggered me-
Nv head swan with the force of con-
flicting emotions. Mr. Beaufoy's voice
went on buzzing i'm nv ears, and his
daughter answered him, but for a
/ minnie or two l attached no meaning
I 10 their words Mary Forte>cue gonei
And 10 Pyrmont, Perhaps with Plowitz
ANYHOW To his relations. to be more or less
I in bis power! / rallied from the shock rs
well as could. and underworld to col
( lect myself, and to summon discretion
to my aid. l heard again the words
that were being spoken, and realized
I the meaning of what was said.
That must be Tor Mr.. Coplestone TO
/ decide Mr.. Beaufoy was saving, in
a very peevish voice. from which all
7 trace of the magnificent suavity had
( gone.
/ Mr. Coplestonc has already decided"
7 said the Ba-ilisk; ..he Is to stay"
VERY well, my dear" rejoined her
father. The surrender was complete,
though anything but willing.
Ms Beaufoy had evidently insisted
on my remaining. had nothing what
ever to say in the matter. My only
desire was for little time to think
matters over by myself. and form some
practicalplan. The only resource Icould
think of ut the moment was DR.. Shaw.
Meantime did moi care to discuss the
question of my iuturc movements with
those whom | regarded as my enemies.
AIRY further conversation on the sub
ject was StOpI ed by the approach of
sgbtued and obscqmous attendant,
who murmurcd a message into Mr..
BeaUfoy' ear.
"Canon Crumbley," said he. "By
III meansr' And he rose with some
haste, and advanced 10 meet a pOrtly
ecclesiastic who was coming across the
room.
Canon Crumbley was large man,
Of great influence in certain semi-eccle-
Sia>tical social-improycmcnt circles. a
large and comfortable man, of most
aprrd>iug aspect. Ii was hard 10 say
which Efadc tine most Ur blne fuss over
the other-thc Canon or Mr.. Beaufoy.
The upshot Of the meeting was that
was consigned to the care of Hardy 10
be driven home. " ii.le jhc Canon car
riel oil Mr., aud Miss Bcaufoy, insist
ing that they should dine with him,
and renew an old friendship with his
wife.
/ was clad to be alone; but in the
solitude of the homcward drive my
thoughts soon became mhcJrablc. The
abduction Of Mary FortC~cue-fOr such
It must virtually have bccn-was the
one terrible subject. How could l
even tell that She was going to Pyr-
monte How. knowing it WAS fact.
could trace. follow. help, rescue her?
II WAS nearly dark when | arrived 1t
Hanover Lodge. Hardy helped me 10
alighi. and SAW INC safe into inc hall
before lie drove AWAY again
A. stood alone in the hall. in blank
Of Thought. q slight noise on the stairs
caught mv car. | looked mp. Once
more hrlcld the phenomenon Of the
folding staircase. From the chasm re-
ycalcd iu ihcwall Plowi;z stepped forth.
As ne did - the stairs slowly and noise
lessly resumed their place behind them.
tie came flown greeting me with a
loud voice rs he came.
..Ah. INV dear Mr.. CoplcStone, You
back alanc2 What have you done with
+ yoar compauiens.
/ | briefly explained that they had
STAYED for while % see I'm old friend.
l noticed th1t Plowitz's heartincss,
which was generally easy enough, if
not natural. was uow strained, and
( that ne looked veNcd and worried.
I lie came into the library with me,
and threw himself into a chair
so You have lost your pupil, Mr..
4 Coplc-tonc?'. he said
$50 / hear, | replied.
"Ah. hc said. with shudder, lit is
duller than ever. How | hate working
alone.'
You should have come to London
with Us. l suggested.
Il could not; l had work to do
here, And, rather inconsistently, he
I got up. sighed heavily. and went off
I through the partitioncd door, slamming
4 it heavily behind him.
| followed in a minute, and walked
slowly up the stairs. | reached the foot
1 of the small flight which | had twice
I seen fold back. An examination.
+ searching though hurried, revealed
what We're probably the points of juno
ton, but / could find no trace of levers
to work the machinery.
But in deep stiffness of the house. rs
Y I 1aZcd nj the paHclllng, intent on tnd-
Z ing some clue To the my stery, my ear, on
the strain for the least alarm, caught
/ distinctly the sound Of a woman's sobs.
I Whence IL came | could not determine.
But somewhere not far off | felt sure |
heard a woman weeping bitterly. |
listened. but TO no further purpose, and
then went up to my own landing and
waited and watched. Presently heard
the study-dOor opened. and the step of
Plowitz coming into the hall. He
looked into the library, apparently, and
then came mp the stairs. l watched
him from the shadow He came to the
mysterious landing. and gave glance
round. There was nothing from his
point of view. TO fear. for if he had seen
me he would havccared little. He then
pressed n knob in the carved wainscOt-
ing. and slid strip of the panellingup.
lie inserted ibis hand in the vacancy
left. and pulled some sort of lever, and
quickly shut down the panel. Easily
and n0iselcssly the stairs swung back,
and into the aperture Plowitz disappear
cd Easily and noiseleSsly the stairs
resumed their usual position, and with
= bound REACHED the spot where Plowitz
had Just stood. / could see no trace of